Hidden European Talents wiki - Project meeting in Kežmarok

Project meeting in Kežmarok, 3th – 7th June 2013

Thinking of Slovakia…
I’ve always wondered if other people find it easy to get back to their work and everyday activities after a relaxing getaway. Indeed, that’s how I perceived the meeting in Kežmarok, right from the start. While our minibus was driving along the town streets, I kept looking out of the window, delighted with the peace and quiet of everything we went past, which foreshadowed the friendly atmosphere of the whole meeting.
The first evening at school gave us the chance to meet our hosts and the partners from the other countries. The Slovak team and a student wearing a folk costume welcomed us with the traditional bread and salt. We felt their warmth and kindness the very moment we shook hands with them. As for the activities they chose for us to take part in, they were both entertaining and useful: the visit to the imposing Belianska Cave and the trip under the High Tatras, which gave us an insight into the beauties of that region, the Talent Show, the guided tour of the town, the activities in their school, the folk show. I enjoyed every minute of my stay there.
Belianska Cave and the High Tatras… Feelings of admiration, respect and joy overwhelmed me during the walk through this cave, the largest opened to the public in the Tatras. I was amazed by its length (3,641m), with one circuit available to visitors, which is 1,752 m long. We admired flowstone waterfalls, pagoda stalagmites, pools and many other forms of cave decoration. One of the stops was in the Musical Hall, named after the sound of dripping water on pool surface. This hall was used for organizing music concerts because its acoustics is excellent. What a wonderful choice, this visit! Entrance to the cave is located at an altitude of 890 metres, so we also had the chance to do a little trekking and to talk to our partners about lots of different things…
The Talent show with its wonderful performers got us closer to the Slovak people and we appreciated from the bottom of our hearts the effort the children and the teachers made to organize it. They sang, danced, acted in plays, presented their pets, introduced the partner countries. They did all these so naturally and harmoniously!
The guided tour of the town also surprised me positively, as we found out details about the important buildings in Kežmarok from a group of students in our partner school. Each building was presented to us by a certain student who knew everything on the matter. It was amazing! It was as if they were qualified guides, they knew so many details and they were so committed to what they were doing! Enthusiastic and energetic, speaking English so well! The visit to the former Evangelical Lyceum was also a delight as there is the largest school historic library in Central Europe, containing 150, 000 volumes. What made this visit special was not only the grandeur of the place but also the wonderful ability of the guide to keep us all interested.
I guess Kežmarok is famous for its hospitable people, as I felt at home everywhere during this week. Even the mayor himself showed us great hospitality when we visited him on Wednesday. He kindly told us a few words about Kežmarok and invited everybody to sign in the guest book. We also listened to two very talented folk singers who impressed us all. In the evening folk singers and dancers performed for us again, this time the show lasting longer.
I know there are lots of other amazing things to say about the project meeting in Kezmarok and I will surely bear them all in mind long from now…
Mihaela Mladenovici, Elementary School Elena Vacarescu,, Bucharest